PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — Pinellas County is one of 10 counties in the Sunshine State that receives beach renourishment from the Army Corps of Engineers. The federal storm protection project dredges sand from off-shore and dumps it onto the beaches to replace the sand that naturally washes away.
The most recent round of renourishments has been delayed following the Army Corps of Engineers' recent change of policy interpretation.
U.S. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna recently penned a letter to the Army Corps, pointing out the reason the projects aren't moving forward — the requirement of perpetual property easements from all homeowners in the zoned project areas.
The easements require homeowners to sign over rights to a portion of their land, forever.
In the letter Luna sent the Corps, she wrote, "Congress and our community disagree with the Corps' changing interpretation of the 1986 Water Resource Development Act."
Under this act, the Army Corps previously did not require perpetual easements. But now, the interpretation of the law has created a policy change that Pinellas County is unable to get residents to comply with.
Last week, Luna met with Pinellas County beach town mayors regarding beach renourishment. Her office told 10 Tampa Bay the letter she sent the Army Corps of Engineers has not received a response.
"The beach mayors and I decided we have had enough with the stonewalling and refusal to protect our beaches in Pinellas," Luna's office said via email. "At this point, the Army Corps’ inaction is willful neglect. So, the mayors and I have mutually decided to file a Holman Rule Amendment this fall in line with the appropriations timeline against the Assistant Secretary of the Army Corps for Civil Works to force action on this issue."
A Holman Rule Amendment is when an amendment is made to appropriations legislation that would reduce the salary of or fire specific federal employees, or cut a specific program.
Luna's office said the amendment will be filed in line with the upcoming appropriations guidelines this fall, which will be in line with what House leadership decides.
After writing two letters to the Army Corps of Engineers, working alongside local officials, and getting the attention of the White House, Luna said this is another effort to get beach renourishment back on track.
"I will continue being a bee in the bonnet of the Army Corps for as long as this takes," she said. "This is something my constituents want and is not a partisan issue. Our beaches are eroding before our eyes, and I am optimistic about the Holman Rule being the tool we need to drive this home."
Florida is one of a handful of states participating in the federal storm protection project.
"We are taking a united front approach with the Corps, and if they still refuse to renourish our beaches we will be forced to change the law," Luna's office said. "The long-term solution to this problem would be changing legislative language next year in WRDA to ensure this never happens again."
Malique Rankin is a general assignment reporter with 10 Tampa Bay. You can email her story ideas at mrankin@10tampabay.com and follow her Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages.
